When new Wikitravellers set up a user account and make a new user page, it can be nice to welcome them onto the site with a brief welcome message. This has the dual benefit of letting them know that we want their help and shared knowledge, as well as giving some good starting points for learning how to be the best darn contributor ever. See also Wikitravel:How to handle unwanted edits if the newcomer is not too familiar with Wikitravel conventions.

Anyone can welcome new users to the site, and they can use whatever text they want. It is recommended that new user is welcomed if they:

edit live article pages, especially if the edit(s) resulted in a comment from someone else (so you can critique their work and point to particular articles that might help them - or just thank them for the contribution), or

create a new page, (other than their user page), or

create their user page and make an edit to live pages, or

make comments on talk pages or other discussion pages.

The following Wiki markup has most of the important starter links in it, however, and makes a good standard welcome message.

To help get you started contributing, we've created a [[Wikitravel:Tips for new contributors|tips for new contributors]] page, full of helpful links about [[Wikitravel:policies and guidelines|policies and guidelines]] and [[Wikitravel:Manual of style|style]] as well as some important information on [[Wikitravel:copyleft|copyleft]] and basic stuff like [[Wikitravel:How to edit a page|how to edit a page]].

If you need help, check out [[Wikitravel:Help]], or post a message in the [[Wikitravel:travellers' pub|travellers' pub]].
-- ~~~~

You should be able to copy and paste that into someone's user talk page. Or you can type {{subst:welcome}} to insert the same text from Template:welcome.

It's nice to personalize the message, though! One easy way to do that is with Template:welcomeplus. When you type "{{subst:welcomeplus|Personal comment here.}}" it inserts a personal comment immediately after "Welcome to Wikitravel." You can also add comments after the template, before you sign the message.

Wikipedians

To help get you started contributing, we've created a [[Wikitravel:Tips for new contributors|tips for new contributors]] page, full of helpful links about [[Wikitravel:policies and guidelines|policies and guidelines]] and [[Wikitravel:Manual of style|style]], as well as some important information on [[Wikitravel:copyleft|copyleft]] and basic stuff like [[Wikitravel:How to edit a page|how to edit a page]].

If you need help, check out [[Wikitravel:Help]], or post a message in the [[Wikitravel:travellers' pub|travellers' pub]].

If you are a [[Wikitravel:Welcome, Wikipedians|Wikipedian]], or have previously used [[Wikipedia]], then you may notice some differences in the style of our articles. These include:

* "Village pump" → [[Wikitravel:travellers' pub|travellers' pub]]

* "be bold" → [[Wikitravel:plunge forward|plunge forward]]

* "sandbox" → [[Wikitravel:graffiti wall|graffiti wall]]

* "stub notes" → [[Wikitravel:Article status|Article status notes]]

* "External links" → We do not use a separate [[Wikitravel:external links|external links]] section, but incorporate ''primary links only'' into the text itself.

Thanks for contributing! -- ~~~~

You should be able to copy and paste that into someone's user talk page. Or you can type {{subst:wikipedian}} to insert the same text from Template:wikipedian.

Anonymous users

Anonymous contributors should be welcomed in cases of:

repeated vandalism, (or any vandalism?)

repeated edits over a period of time with an assessment about their quality, (good, bad, indifferent or variable)

contributing to discussions, especially if it is important that replies be seen by contributor

copyright or other policy guideline issues.

Some guidelines we try to follow here:

Find something nice to say. Even if someone is an obvious troll/vandal, be the bigger person and Assume Good Faith. Also keep in mind that 1 IP is not always 1 User and that other users may be on the other end of your message. First impressions and all that...

Invite the user to create an account. But make it clear that it's in no way required. Pointing out the Wikitravel:Docent project may also encourage folks to get involved, especially if they have been focusing on one or two destinations that they obviously know well.

Point out appropriate policy/guideline links. Probably not the whole welcome graph, but a subset that seems useful given their contributions.

Just as an example:

Howdy. I just wanted to let you know...
By the way, great work on ... destinations-- have you considered [[Wikitravel:How to create a user account|creating a user account]] so you get credit for your contributions and maybe becoming a [[Wikitravel:Docent]]?
Also, if you're new to the whole wiki software look at the [[Wikitravel:Wiki_markup|wiki markup]] to get an idea of how to use the wiki markup (we dont use html tages for formatting). If you need help, check out [[Wikitravel:Help]], and if you need some info not on there, post a message in the [[Wikitravel:travellers' pub|travellers' pub]].
I look forward to more contributions! ~~~~

Benefits for creating an account

If you feel that you need more reasons for creating an account, the following list may be helpful:

Business owners and Tourism professionals

Business owners

For business owner who started with some edits, start with something like this:

Welcome to Wikitravel. We have an [[Wikitravel:Welcome, business owners|introductory page for business owners]]--please take a minute to read it before going on with your edits.

Following [URL your recent edits in ArticleName]:

When the user removed information about competitor:

One of the most important rules is [[Wikitravel:Welcome, business owners#never remove info on competitors|"never remove info on competitors"]]. Never, without exception.

When the user contributes too flowery description of his properties, something this can help:

What's most important when adding your properties to the listings are: [[Wikitravel:Be_fair|be fair]] and [[Wikitravel:Don't tout|don't tout]].

or, if you need a more wordy message:

Welcome to Wikitravel! Thanks for your recent addition of (venue name) to the (article name) article.

It looks very much like an advertisement. Wikitravel strives to avoid being an "advertising brochure" for any business, city, or service--so {please edit|I have edited} your text to ''describe'' the establishment rather than trying to ''sell'' it to a reader. I would recommend to read [[Wikitravel:Don't tout]] article before your future edits--and we would happy to see you back editing here but also respecting our guidelines ;-)

BTW, we would recommend you [[Wikitravel:How to create a user account|registering a login name]] at Wikitravel to:

When a flowery list of nearby attractions is added to accommodation property:

Please avoid [[Wikitravel:Accommodation listings#Avoid listing nearest attractions|lengthy descriptions of nearby sights and attractions in accommodation listings]] like the one you recently added to the (article name) article. Instead, please give a concrete idea of the location: near the railway station, 5 min on foot to the National Museum, 10 min by car to the Grand Canyon--it will be much more helpful for a traveler choosing a place to stay.

When districts are not considered and the item is [repeatedly] added to the main article:

As long as [[...]] is a huge city, we always list its places to {eat|sleep} in a specific district article, not in the main city article. I had to revert it in the main article of [[...]], but please feel free to add individual {Eat|Sleep} listings to [one of] its districts: ...

When apartment rental is [repeatedly] added, and it doesn't meet our criteria:

I removed your apartment listing as it doesn't meet [[Wikitravel:Accommodation_listings#Apartment_listings|our criteria for apartment rentals]]. Please review those criteria before adding back your apartments.